Sjur Markusson Dyrdal (g-grandfather on my father’s side) – Sjur was born October 6, 1827 on the Dyrdal farm in the kommune of Hoyanger (then Lavik), in the province of Sogn og Fjordane in Norway to Markus Anderson Dyrdal and Ingeborg Oldsdatter Brekke. He and his brother (who like Sjur's future father-in-law had leprosy) immigrated to the United States in 1854. After a year in Wisconsin they came to Kenyon Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota to settle. On July 30, 1860 Sjur married Ingeborg Kristensdatter Nistad. They had ten children. Sjur kept Markusson as his last name but Americanized Sjur to Sever (Sivert, Syvert). He died in 1896. His last son was my grandfather. The picture is of his tombstone.